Updated Friday, Nov. 6: Okay, taste-tested and approved. Aside from all the pre-opening hoopla, it's clear that
the Sugar Cube's still got some major sass, from the lava hot, savory-sweet explosion of its smoked salt-topped Ovaltine to its ridiculously rich
"Beer.Cheese.Bacon" (see above)—a super-moist Guinness cake topped with ice cream, praline bacon and salty-good white cheddar. Jensen promised to try and use larger shavings of cheese next time for an extra salty punch. These cart desserts are special, and not just because they're served on real china. Fun, newish PDX food blog
Under the Table with Jen has an obsessive rundown on The Sugar Cube's first day, here, so I'll just let you read that for more details. Instead, here's some pics of the new cart—inside and out—
complete with gold cabinets and jeweled drawer pulls, and a unicorn begging for tips. (Sorry about the quality of the photos,
WW's digicam was damaged by a AirSoft rifle during Portland's recent
Zombie Apocalypse combat simulation. I'm serious.).
The Sugar Cube owner Kir Jensen with her first dollar.
Blatant attempt to curry favor with fantasy genre fans.
Inside the cart.
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Original post:
As you might have heard, celebrated
local baker Kir Jensen's cute-as-pie downtown dessert cart The Sugar Cube—home of the addictive Highway to Heaven and Amy Winehouse cupcakes—
is back from the dead after a seven month absence. But, oh what, you ask, does she have in stores for Portland's sugar and fat junkies this time around when
she opens up shop tomorrow, Thursday, Nov. 5 in her new pink cart (see photo below) at the
Mississippi Marketplace food cart pod? Well, it involves
beer and True Blood, of course.
Here's some menu teasers (around $3-$7), straight from the redheaded Chicago gal's mouth:
"Beer.Cheese.Bacon: Warm Guinness and ginger stout cake, topped with Fifty Licks vanilla bean ice cream, praline bacon crunch, shaved white cheddar, buckwheat honey drizzle. Booyah!
Cupcake of the week: First up? A homage to my favorite character on True Blood..."The Lafayette." Red velvet cake, topped with vanilla bean cream cheese frosting...and a gold lame thong garnish. [Update 10 am Thursday, Nov. 5: Jensen says that The Lafayette will not be available today. She's still "searching for gold lame thong."]
Spiced, freshly pressed apple cider: infused with vanilla bean and ginger served with cinnamon stix, nutmeg and other goodness. Comes hot with a Tonali's old fashioned glazed doughnut."
Oh holy christ. As Jensen would say, that sounds like a "sugargasm." The baker also promised some
Thanksgiving take home specials later this month. We'll report back after tomorrow's opening. Follow
The Sugar cube on Twitter for more updates.
The Sugar Cube at Mississippi Marketplace, corner of North Mississippi and Skidmore, www.thesugarcubepdx.com. Noon-closing (whenever she runs outta goods) Thursday-Sunday. Photos of Sugar Cube logo and new cart courtesy of Kir Jensen.